Despite a chilly evening, Brooklyn Emerge hosted their annual free community Iftar dinner on Rugby Road and Foster Avenue this past weekend to celebrate Islamic traditions and holidays.
Founder and President of Brooklyn Emerge Zakarya Khan has headed a Halal meal share program in Brooklyn since the pandemic, bolstered entrepreneurship and businesses in Brooklyn, invested in a college and career readiness program, and taken in about 30 asylum seekers.
“I really want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart,” said Khan, “Today is a special day. Some of you are fasting and some are not, but we’re breaking the fast together.”
For the interfaith Iftar dinner, community organizations like Brooklyn Emerge, Muslims Vote Project, and the Young Muslim Democratic Club combined forces to deck out the streets with Ramadan balloons, fully dressed tables with dates and plates, and have outside prayer rugs provided. Dozens of men, women, and children from the community and nearby Masjid-e-Quba eagerly awaited sundown.
“As we break fast, let us also break barriers, build bridges, and celebrate the power of compassion, resilience and unity,” said Alim Bary, Brooklyn Emerge director of community outreach. “At the core of our beloved community we have witnessed the transformative power of generosity and solidarity.”
A slew of elected officials from the Flatbush area in Brooklyn were also in attendance, including Assemblymember Brian Cunningham, and Councilmembers Farah Louis, Mercedes Narcisse, and Rita Joseph.
“Compassion,” said Louis at the dinner, “that is something, a trait, a character trait that we should have each and every day. Brooklyn Emerge’s mission is based on compassion, being a space of refuge for people that need the support, to be a place of fortress. During this time when we need peace in this world, you guys bring a sense of peace, and that is what Ramadan is about and this community Iftar is about. I thank you all for your leadership.”
New York City’s vastly diverse Muslim community has been struggling twofold: under the weight of the city’s migrant crisis and with the current Israel/Palestine war in Gaza.
Plenty of newly arrived African Musilm migrants were finding it hard to access Halal food and celebrate their traditions this and last month in the city. This is the end of this year’s Ramadan, a month-long period where participants fast from dawn-to-sunset, and Eid al-Fitr, a grand holiday celebrated on the Islamic lunar calendar at the close of the fasting month on April 9-10.
Meanwhile, quite a few grassroots organizations encouraged New York State voters to leave their ballots blank in the recent presidential primary on April 2 as a way of demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, which is an extension of the “uncommitted” ballot box protests in other states.
“This is a moment of very high concern,” said Congressmember Yvette Clarke at the event. “So in Washington, D.C., we are doing everything we can to make sure that we lift up, not only this community, but communities across this nation that are in great despair in this moment. My prayers are that there will be decisive action taken this week when we return back to Washington D.C. I see that the president and his administration have finally made the move that I think must happen at this moment to save lives and to end atrocities that are happening, particularly to our Palestinian sisters and brothers.”
At sundown the call to prayer, which is sung in Arabic, was performed.
Those observing the prayer time gathered on the carpeted section of the street, bowing and kneeling in unison. Afterwards, a flood of chicken and lamb dishes and homemade sweet drinks were passed out for dinner. The breaking of the fasting period was complete. For the next hour or so, guests chatted and ate outside in the well lit, frigid night air to their heart’s content. They closed out the event with free cups of warmed chai and even more takeaway containers of food.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.